It has pledged to invest €1 trillion (£0.85tn) in climate action and environmental sustainability from 2021 to 2030 and set a new Emissions Performance Standard of 250g of carbon dioxide per kWh, which will replace the current 550gCO2/kWh standard.

It also aims to ensure grid investment for wind and solar as well as boost cross-border interconnections and support energy transformation outside the EU.

EIB President Werner Hoyer said: “Climate is the top issue on the political agenda of our time. Scientists estimate that we are currently heading for 3-4°C of temperature increase by the end of the century. If that happens, large portions of our planet will become uninhabitable, with disastrous consequences for people around the world.

“The EU bank has been Europe’s climate bank for many years. Today it has decided to make a quantum leap in its ambition. We will stop financing fossil fuels and we will launch the most ambitious climate investment strategy of any public financial institution anywhere.”